March 8 - Carlo Gesualdo; Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (The Musical Birthday Series, 8th Annual Cycle)

Previous entries for March 8th may be read here: C. P. E. Bach (2019), Alan Hovhaness (2021), Carlo Gesualdo,  Carlo Gesualdo (2022), Carlo Gesualdo; Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (2023), and Franco Alfano; Bendix Friedrich Zinck; Gottfried Wilhelm Fink (2024)

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Carlo Gesualdo (probably 8 March 1566 – 8 September 1613) was an Italian composer who wrote some of the most intensely expressive and dissonant music of the Renaissance. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh crudele!

 

From the Gesualdo clan there arose a

Prince with the skills to compose a

Body of works

Which had voice-leading quirks

That confounded the court of Venosa. 

 

♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪ 

 

 

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (8 March 1714 – 14 December 1788) was an influential German composer composer, and a son of J. S. Bach. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Doing What Comes Naturally

When freed from the musical text,

And ad-libbing whatever came next,

C.P.E., so we're told,

Grew increasingly bold,

And his affects increasingly vexed.

 

 

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March 7 - Maurice Ravel (The Musical Birthday Series, 8th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for March 7th  can be found here: John Wilbye (2019), Maurice Ravel (2020), and Thomas Linley the Younger (2021), Maurice Ravel (2022), Maurice Ravel (2023), Maurice Ravel (2024)., and Maurice Ravel (2025)

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Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a great French composer, pianist and conductor.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Harmony Grits

These limericks are written to tell

The truth about Maurice Ravel,

Who can drive players bats

When his sharps and his flats

Are scattered all over pell mell.

The flats and the sharps are how he

Disguises and colors the key;

But they make for rough reading

When tempos are speeding,...

Or after a glass of chablis.

Ravel, who with blithe ingenuity

Used scales with a veiled ambiguity,

Got carried away

In the prodigal play

Of harmonically lush superfluity.

 

 

If you enjoy these posts, please help me, and consider sharing.  [Also, please visit my other blog: Alternate Takes: Great Art Repurposed.] Ravel (2024)

 

 

 

 

March 6 - Mary Wilson; Gina Cigna (The Musical Birthday Series, 8th Annual Cycle)

Previous March 6th entries can be found here: Oscar Straus (2019), Norman Treigle (2020), H. C. Robbins Landon (2021), Sarah Caldwell; Julius Rudel; Oscar Straus (2022), Stephen Schwartz (2023), Yannick Nézet-Séguin (2024), and Bob Wills (2025)

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Mary Wilson (6 March 1944 –8 February 2021) was an American singer. She gained worldwide recognition as a founding member of the Supremes. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once a Supreme…

Mary Wilson spent her career

   Rekindling early dreams,

And ever after she'd appear

   As one of The Supremes.

 

 

 

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Gina Cigna (6 February 1900 – 26 June 2001) was a French-Italian dramatic soprano. 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two Limericks on the Same Rhyme Sounds for Cigna

 

Gina Cigna, who has died aged 101, was a prima donna of the old school, grand in manner. -- The Guardian obit

 

1.

In an era when opera was grand,

And acting could never be bland,

The public was wowed

By a voice that was loud,

And Cigna could swamp any band.

2.

From critics who heard her first hand

We know her theatrical brand.

And we know, when she bowed,

She had stirred up the crowd,

And anything subtle, be damned!

 

 

If you enjoy these posts, please help me, and consider sharing.  [Also, please visit my other blog: Alternate Takes: Great Art Repurposed.] 

 

 

March 5 - Carol Sloane (The Musical Birthday Series, 8th Annual Cycle)

Previous entries for March 5th  can be founded here: Heitor Villa Lobos (2019), Heitor Villa-Lobos (2020), Andy Gibb (2021), Barry Tuckwell; Philip Farkas; Arthur Foote (2022). William Shield (2023), Elaine Paige (2024), and Christoph Ernst Friedrich Weyse (2025)

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Carol Sloane (5 March 1937 – 23 January 2023) was an jazz American singer.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If At First

After seemingly being on the verge of stardom, she languished for decades, battered by changing tastes and bad luck, before enjoying a midlife comeback. – New York Times obit

She was described by critics as being one of jazz music's most underrated singers. — Wikipedia

Carol Sloane, whom critics rate

As right up there among the greats,

Had a career that sank, or hovered,

And then, when she was rediscovered,

She'd make LPs when she was able

For this or that new record label.

He swinging style was called appealing,

But she could never break the ceiling

That separates a household name

From those with esoteric fame; ---

A talent that could hold its own,

And though admired, a great unknown

Our birthday girl, Ms. Carol Sloane.

 

 

 

If you enjoy these posts, please help me, and consider sharing.  [Also, please visit my other blog: Alternate Takes: Great Art Repurposed.]